Hospitality Marketing Bloghttp://blog.madiganpratt.com
Where small luxury hotels go for hospitality marketing advice on how to acquire and retain profitable customers.Fri, 27 Mar 2015 14:30:05 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1Hospitality Excellence Where Everyone is a Winnerhttp://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/03/27/hospitality-excellence-where-everyone-is-a-winner/
http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/03/27/hospitality-excellence-where-everyone-is-a-winner/#commentsFri, 27 Mar 2015 14:30:05 +0000http://blog.madiganpratt.com/?p=1817Online review sites like TripAdvisor have been around for over a decade now. Unquestionably they have forced hoteliers to seriously focus on customer comments. Remember the days when paper comment cards were reviewed in the privacy of the GM’s office with action taken as s/he deemed necessary? Those were the days!

Every hotel is totally exposed through online review sites making every comment important.

The good news is that actions hoteliers are taking to provide an excellent guest experience can lead to even more good news. Good news that can spread beyond the management team circle, beyond the staff and even potential guests who will read them.…

]]>http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/03/27/hospitality-excellence-where-everyone-is-a-winner/feed/0The Benefits of Being A Digital Leader vs. Laggardhttp://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/03/04/the-benefits-of-being-a-digital-leader-vs-laggard/
http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/03/04/the-benefits-of-being-a-digital-leader-vs-laggard/#commentsWed, 04 Mar 2015 14:52:41 +0000http://blog.madiganpratt.com/?p=1799A recent study conducted by McKinsey & Company shows companies at the forefront of using digital tools including social media to engage consumers along the purchase decision journey are gaining a significant advantage over their competitors. It’s the digital leaders vs.the digital laggards and the financial implications are enormous.

The study included data on 1,000 brands across a wide range of product categories covering 20,000 customer journeys and 100,000 touchpoints. Three not so surprising findings from the study include:

More Channels = More Competition – With the proliferation of branding channels and messages comes increased competition for share of the consumer’s attention

Consumers Are Taking Control- The impact of company branding messages and likelihood of conversion tends to decrease as consumers become more digitally adept, i.e.

…]]>http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/03/04/the-benefits-of-being-a-digital-leader-vs-laggard/feed/0Time for Hotels to Focus on Driving Direct Bookingshttp://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/02/13/time-for-hotels-to-focus-on-driving-direct-bookings/
http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/02/13/time-for-hotels-to-focus-on-driving-direct-bookings/#commentsFri, 13 Feb 2015 16:11:28 +0000http://blog.madiganpratt.com/?p=1778I’m sure you have already heard the news that Expedia is planning on buying Orbitz in a $1.34 billion deal. To read the Wall Street Journal’s take on situation, just click here.

What caught my eye was a line in the second paragraph which says the “deal is sure to spark grumbling from hotel and airline operators, who are wary of having even bigger companies standing between them and their customers.”

As a hotel operator I hope you are doing more than just grumbling. There has never been a better time for hotels to commit to driving significantly more direct bookings. Here are some actions that can be taken immediately.…

]]>http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/02/13/time-for-hotels-to-focus-on-driving-direct-bookings/feed/0TripAdvisor Business Listings For Life?http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/02/04/tripadvisor-business-listings-for-life/
http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/02/04/tripadvisor-business-listings-for-life/#commentsWed, 04 Feb 2015 16:58:05 +0000http://blog.madiganpratt.com/?p=1715While at first this may sound like a good thing, be careful what you wish for. Hoteliers really need to know the financial implications of the road ahead.

Last week we posted an article about how hotels have been hit with TripAdvisor sticker shock when it came time to renew their Business Listing. They are seeing renewal costs double and triple over what they paid the previous year. Have you budgeted for that?

No one knows how much TripAdvisor is planning on raising their costs in the years ahead. However some recent moves seem to be sending a clear signal that they want hotels to be subscribers for life – whether you like it or not.…

]]>http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/02/04/tripadvisor-business-listings-for-life/feed/3Caribbean Hotels Hit With TripAdvisor Sticker Shockhttp://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/01/27/caribbean-hotels-hit-with-tripadvisor-sticker-shock/
http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2015/01/27/caribbean-hotels-hit-with-tripadvisor-sticker-shock/#commentsTue, 27 Jan 2015 20:42:46 +0000http://blog.madiganpratt.com/?p=1701Hoteliers take note. If you haven’t renewed your TripAdvisor Business Listing lately hold on to your hats. Rates have gone up and in most cases substantially – like double what was paid last year.

Caribbean Marketplace is taking place in Puerto Rico this week. Several years ago, at Marketplace, the TripAdvisor Business Listing was introduced. Since many hoteliers signed up at that time they are being asked, or will soon be asked to renew with sizable increases in fee.

Hopefully there is money in your budget to cover the increase. The consequences for not renewing are substantial. In addition to going a year without direct links to your website, reservations email and phone number, the price of a “new” listing is significantly higher than the increased rate for renewal would be.…

Congratulations on Amazon’s impending move into the online travel business. It’s exciting that Amazon is a great admirer of high-end, independent hotels and resorts and values the uniqueness of this segment. I wish you great success with your initial launch in four U.S. cities

We hope that your expansion into the Caribbean comes soon. Here are five properties that should be at the top of your consideration set. Each fits your criteria, is independent and carries a four-star TripAdvisor rating or higher. Three sport a coveted five-star rating. All, like Amazon, have built reputations for delivering superior levels of customer satisfaction.…

]]>http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/11/24/an-open-letter-to-jeff-bezos-ceo-of-amazon/feed/2Helping Hotels Scare Up More Boo!-kingshttp://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/10/30/helping-hotels-scare-up-more-boo-kings/
http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/10/30/helping-hotels-scare-up-more-boo-kings/#commentsThu, 30 Oct 2014 21:21:45 +0000http://blog.madiganpratt.com/?p=1659MP&A Digital & Advertising recently carved up some Halloween fun for its hospitality clients. The result, a howling good time and “spook-tacular” photo and video content to share across social media and beyond.

]]>http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/10/30/helping-hotels-scare-up-more-boo-kings/feed/0The Case for Hotel Videoshttp://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/10/08/the-case-for-hotel-videos/
http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/10/08/the-case-for-hotel-videos/#commentsWed, 08 Oct 2014 14:27:32 +0000http://blog.madiganpratt.com/?p=1636Do you know any hoteliers that have been putting off creating professionally produced videos for their small luxury hotel? I’ll bet you do and the reason is most likely that they are just too expensive. Really?

This is perhaps the most common reason a company, including hotels, will use when it doesn’t want to purchase something. Sure, it will cost money, but what are the benefits? How much revenue will videos produce? What will be your return on investment? It’s not about how much something costs, but how ROI a hotel can expect.

The problem is no video production company will guarantee a hotel how much incremental revenue professionally produced and properly promoted videos will generate.…

]]>http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/10/08/the-case-for-hotel-videos/feed/0What in Hell is the U.S.P.? And Why Do You Need One? Reduxhttp://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/08/19/what-in-hell-is-the-u-s-p-and-why-do-you-need-one-redux/
http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/08/19/what-in-hell-is-the-u-s-p-and-why-do-you-need-one-redux/#commentsTue, 19 Aug 2014 14:06:57 +0000http://blog.madiganpratt.com/?p=1612Every so often it’s a good idea to step back and review the real definition of the U.S.P. While the Unique Selling Proposition is one of the most basic and important components of a hotel’s marketing program it is also one of the least understood. Consultants and advertising agencies are developing varying definitions of the U.S.P., some of which are quite far from the original.

So, following is an updated article on the subject and several new examples of hotels that have developed and benefitted from having a strong U.S.P.’s.

Enjoy,

Madigan

“Today, the U.S.P. is perhaps the most misused series of letters in advertising.…

]]>http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/08/19/what-in-hell-is-the-u-s-p-and-why-do-you-need-one-redux/feed/1The Most Effective Yet Underutilized Hotel Marketing Disciplinehttp://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/08/11/the-most-effective-yet-underutilized-hotel-marketing-discipline/
http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2014/08/11/the-most-effective-yet-underutilized-hotel-marketing-discipline/#commentsMon, 11 Aug 2014 14:40:18 +0000http://blog.madiganpratt.com/?p=1605Public relations, online advertising, websites, SEO, sales, social media and email are all common forms of marketing used by small luxury hotels today. They are assembled in various mixes to form a hotel’s marketing and communications plan.

These plans get the word out and hopefully generate the revenue that management and owners budgeted. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. Over the course of the past few years far too many have proven they don’t.

So why are so many small luxury hotels missing the mark when hotel chains, casinos and even cruise lines are meeting goals? You might say it’s because chains, cruise lines and casinos spend so much money on advertising, but that would be missing the real reason for their success.…